#NationalDay Blues

The National Day holiday is almost upon us in China (in fact, it starts tomorrow). It's unfortunately timed for anyone who works in the school system because they've just gone back to work and now they get another holiday. Sounds great, except that it's the last major holiday until Chinese New Year, which is very late this time around. Still, a holiday is here so it's time to make the most of it.　

Deadline Day

So today is the transfer deadline day: words that elicit a whole range of emotions from football fans and mass hysteria in the upper offices of football clubs. Anyone sensible would think that deadline day is a terrible time to get your transfer business done, considering that teams have had all summer to get the job done, the season actually started three weeks ago and deadline day usually ends with failed negotiations and panic buys. In some cases it makes sense for a transfer to only go through on the lat day. Long and arduous negotiations finally come to a head and life is beathed into moves that were long tought to be dead. In most cases, it seem like teams take a scatter-gun approach to the business and try to get just about anyone through the door. It makes for tedious, but often addictive television as rumour and counter-rumour follow each other on the yellow ticker and it seems that this season will be far more interesting than the past few, even if deals don't get done in the end.

What is the point of having a deadline on transfers anyway? I don't think I really know the answer to that. I vaguely remember there being some talk about it protecting smaller teams from having their players poached during the season, but it just leaves them having their players poached at a moment when they have no chance to replace them. If one of the super-rich teams comes in for a smaller team's best player and lets the whole world know about it through a convenient leak to the press, the smaller team has a hell of a hard time keeping the player who suddenly remembers that he always wanted to play for the bigger team because of ambition, or trophies or respect for the coach or whatever excuse they use to cover their greed for the bigger contract on offer. I suppose that's not entirely fair as there are some players who move for other reasons, but I think it covers most transfers and I haven't even mentioned the agents yet.

All in all, I think that the transfer window experiment has had its time and has just become a horrible, twisted parody of itself (like politics and blockbuster movies). I suppose it's a reflection of the vaccous and money obessed society we have become in 2017. The world is going to hell in a handbasket. Things were better in my day. Everyone has nodded towards the grumpy old man who said those words to them whilst ignoring them and wondering when the next instagram snap of that celebrity's beach holiday will be posted. I think the transfer deadline day is a sign that the grumpy old men were right (that and the instagram obsession). I don't really know what my point is here, but maybe it's that there's no getting off this ride to nowhere.

Wandering through the wilderness

For the last few months (maybe more than a few) by blof has been distracted by politics and cults. It wasn't what I set out to talk about, but they are issues that caught my interest and I think they are important ones to discuss. This month, I'd like to return to something a little less substantial. I want to address the barren wilderness that a summer break from work in China has become this year. I know that sounds bleak, but what I'm referring to is the lack of sports and foreign movies since the end of June.

Many of you readers (if there are any) are probably not aware that the number of foreign movies shown in China is restricted each year. The way around it is to make sure you involve a substantial contribution from Chinese investors or movie makers while you're shooting your masterpiece. It's why you're starting to see more Chinese faces in big blockbusters and exotic sounding production companies attached to them. In July, however, the restrictions are even tighter. From what I've been told, the idea is to prevent big Western movies being released during the busiest time for cinemas in order to support domestic movies. I don't think protectionism is the right way to go about this, but it's not up to me. As such, Spider-Man and Dunkirk will not be released over here for a couple more months and we are treated to yet another Monkey King abomination instead.

As for sports, the problem is not one of Chinese restrictions, but rather one of timing and taste. Pretty much the only thing a self respeting British man can watch during the summer is Formula 1. There is plenty of basketball and some baseball, but who wants to watch that. The biggest problems are the lack of meaningful football and totl blackout of the cricket. How could I survive such a baren landscape? Well, I've had to turn to my other hobbies... beer and Xbox. I should probably do some reading, but I'm a bit stuck for what to read. When I think of something, I'll let you know.

The Cult of Europe

Recent weeks of news and counter news about the Brexit negotiations and the state of the EU have brought into sharp focus the cultish aspects of the European project. A recent article that I saw about cults characterised them as being "organizations that are established under the disguise of religion or other groups, deify and preach about its chief members, bewitch and deceive others by fabricating and spreading superstitious and evil thoughts, enroll and control members, and endanger society shall be affirmed as cult organizations." I think that this definition could probably be applied to most governments, but it is particularly relevant for the EU.

A grouping of countries that was supposed to be an economic union has gradualy morphed and shifted towards being an organisation that supports its key founding members (Germany and France) at the expense of everyone else in the group. The Common Agricultural Policy has always favoured French farmers and the Euro and ECB exports German fiscal policies to the rest of Europe  (despite the strong currency and Angela Merkel's fetish for austerity being disasterous for the weaker economies such as Greece, Italy and Spain). When discussions about the Greek bailout problems occurred a few years ago and the suggestion was made that the country would have to leave the Euro to rebalance it's economy, the response from Germany was that leaving the Euro would automatially result in expulsion from the cult. Sunds a lot like Li Hongzhi's insistance that seeking medical attention for illness is a sign of a lack of faith in his Falun Gong cult and seems a lot like bewitching  and deceiving others. There's also an argument to be made that German austerity is supersticious and evil thought.

In order to join the EU, applicant countires have to commit to Germany's fiscal pronouncements and join the Euro: enrolling and controlling members. The EU definitely endangers society by inviting refugees into its borders and then letting them go wherever they like without any border checks whatsoever (I support free movement of people, but I don't see why you can't have border checks like those between Britain and France). All that's missing is giant rallies to worship Angela Merkel, but I don't suppose we're too far away from that.

The clearest sign of the EU's status as a cult comes from how it treats its members who wish to leave. Almost every leak from the EU about Brexit negotiations talks about how Britain will be damaged by leaving and that the country must be penalised for its audacity to go it alone. EU members are heading for some sort of economic and political utopia whereas anyone who leaves is heading for armageddon: which is pretty much the story for any cult you care to think of. It might stop slightly short of the doomsday prophesies and the beatings handed out by cults like Eastern Lightning.

Cults engage in brainwashing techniques to discourage critical thought and to ensure the absolute obedience of their members to the cult founder and his/her schemes. The European parliament serves that purpose for the EU. Most members have well and truly drank the cool-aid and any questioning of the European Project is met with derision and disdain. Look at how reluctant they were to give any conncessions to David Cameron, despite it being clear that reform was necessary for the continuation of the cult... err project.

Okay, maybe I've stretched the premise of ths post a bit far but EU leaders have to start thinking for themselves instead of just having blind faith in the union and those guiding it. The EU needs urgent and wide ranging reforms, but that isn't going to happen unless the people in positions of influence sit down and look critically at which parts of the union work and which don't. Not everyone in the EU can keep up with the German economy and the richest countries can't contiue to prop up the poorest just to save face. As things are, the European Cult is damaging its own members and its neighbours. Brexit should have provided the wake-up call that the union desperately needs, but it seems to have just driven everyone deeper into the cult. I truly hope they wake up soon, because the beautiful dream of a united Europe is quickly turning into a nightmare.

Scandals, Black Moons and the End of the World... Again

This month has been a busy one for cults. I said before that I don't intend for this to become a political blog, and I certainly don't intend for it to become a cult blog, but when the big news stories of the month include the end of the world and political scandals involving a world leader, it's difficult to write about something else.

I'll start with the end of the world. Now this is a little confusing depending on where in the world you are. You see, if you are in the Americas then the rare appearance of a black moon occurred last month, but in Europe, Asia and Oceania it occurs this month due to different time zones. "What is a black moon and why does it herald the end of the world?" you might ask. Well, a black moon is the appearance of two new moons in the same calendar month. It occurs about every 30 months or so, which means it is not particularly rare but just rare enough to be interesting. The reason why some cults have claimed that this one is going to end the world is that there was also a solar eclipse at the start of September. Doomsday cults have decided that the two rare events occurring in the same month matches descriptions in the Bible of the end of the world and have been spreading the word accordingly. The problem with their theory is that the solar eclipse was only visible in Africa in September, but the black moon makes an appearance in Africa in October... so their not in the same month at all. Obviously it's nonsense and the two events occurring around the same time is just a coincidence, but cults have never needed a particularly strong reasons for spreading doomsday prophesies, which encourage new members to sign up and hand over all of their earthly possessions. The supposed Mayan prophesy that predicted the end of the world in 2012 didn't just inspire a mediocre movie, it also inspired plenty of cons and outlandish claims.

I read about evangelical Christian leaders calling on their followers to hand over all their money because possessions would hold believers back when the day of judgement arrived. I'm not sure how many returned their ill-gotten gains after the prophesy proved to be false, but I'm guessing it was a nice round number. Li Hongzhi tells us that we are living in the dharma ending period and that he alone can save. In fact, he claims to have been responsible for postponing the end of the world, which is rather convenient for him as it means he can announce that the end is coming as many times as he likes and just claim to have saved us once his prediction fails to materialize. You wouldn't think that people would fall for this sort of thing, but not everyone has access to good education and these cults have a way of drawing you in and dulling your critical reasoning. Falun Gong is particularly cunning with this as their main activities involve sitting in uncomfortable poses and emptying your mind for long periods of each day. The more you do that, the higher level you become... but also less questioning and more susceptible to suggestion. These cults tell you that black is white and up is down and eventually you believe them. This means that they can get you to go along with anything, even if it goes against your own self interest. When someone tells you that a black moon means that the world is coming to an end, you might laugh at them but you should probably make sure that they seek help.
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One person who sought the wrong kind of help is the President of South Korea, Park Geun-hye. President Park is the first female president of South Korea, but it seems that she is also under the influence of cult leaders. A recent scandal has broken out in South Korea surrounding Park's friendship with Choi Soon-Sil, who is the daughter of the late mysterious cult leader Choi Tae-min. Mr. Choi has been described as a Rasputin like character and the leader of a Shamanistic cult. He also happens to be the man that President Park thought of as her mentor. The scandal boils down to undue influence wielded by Ms. Choi and money inappropriately obtained and used by her. It has been claimed that Ms. Choi edited speeches written for the Park, despite not having security clearance, and that she used her lofty position in Korean politics to obtain large donations for her two non-profit organizations. President Park has decided to sack all of her senior aids in response to the scandal, which is an odd move which hasn't quietened the public outrage or improved her approval ratings. The whole situation is odd and calls into question who exactly has been running that country since 2012.

Things didn't end well for Rasputin. I doubt that Ms. Choi will meet such a violent end, but a political career has likely been murdered by the greedy fingers of a cultist.

Allardyce and the Honey Trap

The big talking point for my blog this month can only be one thing: Sam Allardyce's remarkable reign and manager of the England football team. Why was it remarkable, I hear you ask (or not, as it was pretty big news). Well, for one thing, he left the job with a 100% win record, which is a feat that nobody else has matched before. He's also the left with the record for shortest term for a permanent manager: 67 days (1 game). That one game was the sort of comatose inducing performance that drives people away from football and his comments to the press afterwards would be funny if they weren't so depressing. After Wayne Rooney, his captain, spent the entire game puffing away in every area of the pitch other than the area he was supposed to be in, Sam Allardyce announced that Rooney has more experience than him in international football, so it's not for Sam to tell him where to play. The thing is, that is exactly what the England manager is supposed to be doing. If the manager can't tell the players where to play, what good is he? Obviously that sort of cowardice and level of incompetence was enough for Big Sam to lose his job... except that's not why he's gone. The reasons he's been sacked (and is a sacking despite claims of mutual consent) is even more depressing, on multiple levels.

You see, Big Sam apparently had his greedy nose in the money trough and his integrity was for sale... except it wasn't really. The Daily Telegraph, a once well respected broadsheet newspaper, decided to run a long term sting operation to expose corruption in English football. They caught a few assistant managers and people who used to have some connection with the Premier League taking bribes or advising fake Asian businessmen on how to make profits on football transfers as a third party group (which has been banned for a few years). A few bungs were thrown around or discussed, but none of it is really eye catching stuff. They needed a big coup to sell the story and they found the perfect patsy in the new England manager, Sam Allardyce. The thing about Sam is that he likes to brag and hold court and he's got a bit of a history for allegations of dodgy dealings. He also appears to be a bit gullible, judging by the tax scams he's been caught up in. Basically, he was the perfect mark and fell nicely into the laps of the Telegraph's entrapment... I mean investigation.

What the once respected broadsheet newspaper did was decide to throw away any notion of fair play or journalistic integrity and play in the muck where the red tops find their filth to fling. The paper contacted one of Allardyce's agents/mates and set up a couple of meetings with the fake businessmen. During the meetings, the "journalists" got Sam nice and drunk and asked him a bunch of leading questions. Sam said a great number of stupid and embarrassing things, but he got through the meetings without committing and crimes or doing anything particularly dodgy, really. There wasn't much of a scandal, unless you push two unrelated topics together and imply that they were related. During the meetings, Big Sam discussed how people get around the 3rd party ownership rules (3rd party ownership of players is banned) and he negotiated a £400,000 speaking engagement with the fake company. The speaking engagement looks greedy and a potential conflict of interest with his £3 million a year job as England manager, but he did stipulate that he would have to run the job past the powers that be before committing to it. The contract looks like corruption if you stick the revelation next to the discussion about getting around FA rules, as the Telegraph did. They sold the story as England manager for sale and implied that he had agreed a deal to speak to a foreign investment company about how to get around the rules in exchange for a load of money... which was bollocks.

Did Sam do anything wrong and did he deserve to go? Well, he was stupid, said some nasty things and made himself look like a right prat, but he avoided conversations that actually would constitute corruption and didn't accept any bribes. Technically, he didn't do anything wrong but he brought the integrity of the England team down into the gutter as he used his position to scratch around for more money, and he was stupid enough to fall for the honey trap set up by the newspaper. I think, on balance, he deserved to go but he should never have been placed into the position in the first place. He didn't seek out these businessmen, the newspaper sought him out in order to stir up a scandal and sell papers. I think they succeeded on both fronts and they will be patting themselves on the backs. In truth, they should be ashamed of themselves as they've just cost a man his dream job and sold their souls for a few clicks and a short bump in sales. Nobody will ever look at that paper in the same way again, and that's a real shame because it used to be one of the good ones.

Random Topic Of the Month

I haven't been particularly good at sticking to a theme for this blog yet, but I am at least posting more often than once a year. The topic that has taken my interest this month is the start of the football season. We're three weeks in to the budding Premier League season and already the league is being dragged to a screeching halt by international football. I can't think for the life of me why FIFA thinks it's better to interrupt everyone's enjoyment of real football so often during a season when they could just host qualifying groups during each region's off-season. These little morsels of international football between countries who are mostly mis-matched (thanks to a seeding system that should be abolished) do nothing but antagonize clubs and fans.

Another infuriating thing that has come around this week is the transfer deadline. It's another decision made by football's governing bodies that defies logic. Why doesn't the transfer window "slam shut" before the season starts? The way it's done now leaves three weeks for players to be unsettled and teams to be unbalanced or unfinished. Obviously teams can try to get their business done earlier, but how many people do you know that finish their work before the deadline? I suppose it all adds to the soap opera and gives the tabloids a bit more to talk about, plus now deadline day has become a television event on Sky Sports, much like draft day is in America. The last few deadline days have been pretty dull affairs as teams have wised up to getting a settled side together with a full pre-season under their belts and I don't see this one being any different. There are predictions that transfers today will take Premier League spending through the £1 billion, but the money in the game is so ridiculous now that figures like that don't really mean anything... I mean, Aston Villa just signed a Championship player for £15 million!

I promised a Premier League preview in my blog post last month, so here's my thoughts on how things might go:

Man Utd: I think that the combination of Mourinho and big money signings will be enough for Utd to win the league this season. They could probably do with another experienced CB and selling Rooney, but other than those issues the squad looks well balanced and Mourinho's methods will be well suited to the club.

Manchester City: I think they will run Utd close. They have wonderful talent in the first team and some interesting options on the bench. They have waltzed through the early fixtures easily enough, but I don't think that they have enough steel through the spine to make it through the tough Christmas schedule unscathed and their defence still looks rather shaky. I hope they fail because I hate the way they've bought their way to relevance and I can't stand Guardiola or his brand of football.

Chelsea: They look solid, seem to have a very astute manager and looked nailed on for a top four finish to me. I don't think that they have enough to really trouble the top two, particularly with Terry and Cahill still the main options at the back, but they will be too good for the other challengers.

Arsenal: Wenger has finally done something about the glaring holes in his squad and seems to be willing to finally get rid of some dead weight. I just don't think it will be enough to compete with the teams who have done much more impressive business. I was tempted to drop Arsenal out of the tip four, but then I watched the entertaining shambles that was Spurs Vs. Liverpool and I realised that neither of those teams has a hope in hell of consistency this season.Arsenal get the nod by default.

At the bottom, I think tales of Hull's demise were premature. I don't like the look of Bournemouth, Watford or Burnley this season. Sunderland will flirt with relegation (as usual) and West Brom will be right down in the mire, but ultimately the three teams mentioned above will get the chop in May.

Those predictions are not particularly scientific or shocking, but I don't think the league is going to throw up any surprises this year. "What about Leicester?" I hear you ask. Well, they're shite and will be lucky to finish in the top half. Without Kante, they're not the same prospect they were last season.